In the Loop: Back on track after surgery to treat Scoliosis

October 4, 2016

Meagan Blomgren is fast. This spring, she qualified for the Iowa state track meet in the 100- and 200-meter dash, posting the fastest time for a freshman in both races.

A year ago, it was hard for Meagan to imagine that she’d ever have that kind of success. She’d been diagnosed with scoliosis and told she would need surgery to correct the curvature in her spine that until then had gone undiscovered. “Her running coach was the first to notice,” says Meagan’s dad, Jason.

After meeting with doctors closer to their home in Waukee, Iowa, the family came to Mayo Clinic‘s Rochester campus for another opinion. “We’d been told she’d need two surgeries,” Jason says. “We were hoping to get a different answer at Mayo and avoid surgery.” The family met with William Shaughnessy, M.D., a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, who confirmed that Meagan would need surgery. But he told the Blomgrens that Meagan’s spine could be straightened with just one procedure. Read the rest of Meagan's story.
______________________________________________This story originally appeared on the In the Loopblog.